Chapter 40: The True Breakthrough (Part 1)

With the nourishment of this heavenly treasure, which resembled an apple, his essence, energy, and spirit became fuller than ever before, even to the point of overflowing. All Lekai needed to do now was to follow the professor’s teachings and combine the three, beginning the process of “refining essence into energy,” transforming the surging force within him into “ethereal true qi.”

He drew in his energy and tightened his abdomen, attempting to circulate the immense heat through his Governing Vessel meridian, striving to reach the “Ancestral Cavity,” and thus achieve the realm of refining essence into energy. Yet this method required utter stillness, best accomplished in meditation when the spirit ruled the body—an almost subconscious act.

At this moment, however, Lekai was in a state utterly contrary to such tranquility. Under the torment of ice and fire, how could he possibly ignore the pain and peril?

The blazing energy seemed about to burst his mind; his consciousness grew muddled, the sense of crisis in his subconscious only mounting.

It was do or die!

A fierce determination surged in Lekai’s heart. He could no longer heed the professor’s advice to refine essence into energy in absolute calm—for that was simply impossible. Instead, he did the exact opposite.

He went berserk!

His meridians could not withstand the onslaught of such immense power. In the extremity of agony, Lekai released his restraints. He ceased seeking stillness and allowed the violence lurking within him to erupt.

His blood boiled, shattering the last remnants of clarity.

A terrible, piercing howl erupted—half agony, half catharsis.

Lekai’s eyes turned blood-red, his feverish body pulsed with fearsome power, his veins writhing like earthworms beneath his skin. His entire form seemed to swell, exuding the aura of a wild beast at its most dangerous.

The meridians that had shriveled under the fiery agony now seemed reborn in flames, restored and toughened, thicker and more resilient than ever.

Refine essence into energy, gather at the Ancestral Cavity!

With the last sliver of conscious will, he guided the raging current: from the perineum, up the Jade Pillar to the Jade Pillow acupoint, breaking through Baihui, pausing briefly, then plunging straight into the Ancestral Cavity, penetrating the Conception Vessel, and returning to the Dantian.

Though the torrent still raged, in his berserk state, Lekai’s endurance and physical constitution had multiplied manifold—barely sufficient to keep control. Again and again, he circulated the violent heat, which gradually, like a wild beast tamed, transformed into true qi, bit by bit accumulating in his Dantian.

He maintained this state, operating mechanically.

Seated atop the icy floor, tendrils of cold seeped into him through his seat, steadily absorbed and fused, eventually becoming part of his own body.

No wonder the professor had insisted he take the fruit here. This storeroom was the very place where Lekai, as a child, had once eaten a strange fruit.

The innate chill in the air perfectly balanced the pure yang energy of the “apple,” achieving a harmony of yin and yang. Without this, the fruit’s yang energy might have exploded within him, killing him outright.

For a child not yet grown to die in such a manner—one could hardly speak of it without a sense of absurdity.

He didn’t know how long had passed before he finally awoke, dazed.

While in his mechanical state, he hadn’t had time to dispel the berserk transformation. In truth, Lekai didn’t know how to end that state—every time, it faded only when he was utterly spent.

He scrambled to his feet and examined himself closely, frowning.

“This can’t be right. This is nothing like the effects of consuming a heavenly treasure! My strength hasn’t increased, my body isn’t tougher, and all I got was a load of suffering for nothing. What’s the meaning of this?”

Lekai was stunned.

Yet the memory of that surging energy was still vivid. How could it have no effect? If there was any difference, it was that in the past, after every berserk episode, he’d been on the verge of death, ravenous and in desperate need of food to replenish his energy. This time, however, he felt extraordinarily calm, with no hunger at all.

Could it be that the treasure the professor so highly valued, stored away with such care, had only this much effect?

Lekai immersed his mind into the watch once again, and at last, a faint smile appeared on his face. “I knew it wasn’t that simple, old man—always scheming!”

The space that once held only a single apple had now expanded to about a foot in size—enough to hold a small box. In fact, a small box was indeed inside, as if crafted precisely to fit the space.

Lekai took out the box and examined its contents.

Sure enough, the professor had left some things behind: a note and a yellowed book.

“Hahaha, kid, opening up your meridians and refining essence into energy isn’t a pleasant experience, is it? The fact you’ve survived proves that your physique has reached the standard for a true cultivator. Only by attaining unity of mind and spirit, with some control over your soul, can you be called a true martial artist. But don’t get cocky—this is only the beginning, merely qualifying you to bear the title of martial artist. The road ahead is long. At the very least, you’re still a long way from entering the War God Academy, so keep working hard! The training methods for the ‘Unity’ footwork and the nameless internal art you’ve studied are all detailed in this ‘Unity Codex.’ It is of utmost importance—never let it fall into the wrong hands. Now that you possess martial artist-level strength, you may study the codex. Though its contents are profound, I believe that with your intelligence, you’ll have no trouble understanding them.

If you can avoid it, don’t use the berserk state. Every time you do, you burn your own life force. Treasures like the ‘Tri-Yang Fruit’ can only sustain your berserk state a few times, but knowing you’re a battle maniac, you probably can’t help yourself. So your master has gifted you this fruit to help you reach martial artist level. In the future, if you want to extend your life, you’ll have to find more yourself. Rumor has it that on the Martial God Star, there are Four-Yang, Five-Yang, even the legendary Nine-Yang Fruits. If you can gather and refine them, you can consolidate your essence, energy, and spirit, stabilize your soul, and never again suffer the aftereffects of going berserk. Then, you can go crazy as much as you wish—it’s your suffering, not mine, hahahahaha…”

Reading the professor’s letter, Lekai couldn’t help but smile, a touch of emotion rising in his heart. He murmured, “Old man, I knew you’d never let such a good test subject go, even if you had to leave yourself—you still want to see me suffer. Fine, I won’t let you down.”

With great care, Lekai opened the book titled “Unity Codex.”

“In the beginning, there was the Nameless, the origin of all things; with a name, it became the mother of all creation. Forcefully, it is called the ‘Dao’; the Dao births the Infinite, which transforms into the myriad things. Unity is the art of reducing complexity to simplicity—nine times nine returns to one: this is the natural way. With the birth of a single thought, one spans the heavens, traversing the future and the past.”

…

“How truly profound!”

The “Unity Codex” was only nine pages long. The first page detailed the “Unity Step.” Yet Lekai had barely read even half before dizziness and blurred vision overcame him; startled, he closed the book, yet his happiness could not be concealed.

So it was true, the old man’s tales of wondrous secret arts were real!

Take this “Unity Step,” for example—it secretly embodied the laws of heaven and earth. A mere footwork technique, yet it hinted at the mysteries of the cosmos. According to the text, once mastered, a single step could cross the stars!